Europe approves negotiations with Cuba

Posted on Monday, 02.10.14



Europe approves negotiations with Cuba

BY JUAN O. TAMAYO

JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM



The Cuban government has welcomed a European Union initiative for

bilateral negotiations that include the issue of human rights, even as

dissidents said they suspect the EU's negotiating stance lacks

sufficient focus on democracy.



EU foreign ministers on Monday gave final approval to a united stance

for the negotiations, expected to start soon, last more than one year

and, if successful, lead to the end of a EU "Common Position" that has

linked improvements in bilateral relations to human rights since 1996.



Catherine Ashton, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and

Security Policy, asserted Monday that the negotiating stance hammered

out by member countries over recent months includes respect for human

rights.



"We have laid out, in a coherent manner, our concerns for human rights,

which will remain central to this relationship, and I hope Cuba will do

what's necessary," Ashton declared. "The rhythm of our negotiations will

be a reflection of that."



Gonzalo de Benito, the secretary of state for foreign affairs for Spain,

whose country led the push for the bilateral talks, also insisted that

respect for human rights will be a strong element in the negotiations.



Any agreement reached, he told journalists at EU headquarters in

Belgium, will be based on the principles of promoting a better quality

of life for Cubans and "putting special emphasis on human rights and

respect for fundamental freedoms."



A Cuban Foreign Ministry statement on the final EU approval said Havana

would "consider" the talks in a positive light but made no mention of

human rights.



In 2008, Cuba agreed to talks with the EU based on mutual respect,

reciprocal agreements and no interference on domestic affairs, the

statement said, and those principles "remain in effect."



Cuba has not publicly agreed to discuss the issue of human rights with

the EU, but "under the table" abandoned its long-standing rejection of

negotiations unless Europe first ended the Common Position, said Joaquin

Roy, a University of Miami expert on the European Union.



"You will not see an explicit acceptance by Cuba of talks without

restrictions on issues, but they will do it," Roy said, describing the

months of Spanish-led diplomacy to bring Cuba and the EU to the

negotiating table as "a master work of ambiguity."



Dissidents and exiles meanwhile said Monday they did not trust the EU

promises that its talks with the communist-ruled island will address the

issue of human rights.



"There must be a requirement that the Cuban government comply with

international declarations on human rights, and not systematically

violate them as it's done here," said Guillermo Fariñas, spokesman for

the dissident Cuban Patriotic Union.



"To do otherwise would be to betray the people of Cuba," said Fariñas,

winner of the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of

Conscience in 2010. "The people of Europe have a moral obligation to

defend representative democracy in any country."



Fariñas added that he might return his Sakharov prize and stage other

public protests if the EU negotiations with Cuba did not put a strong

emphasis on human rights.



Orlando Gutierrez, head of the Cuban Democratic Directorate in Miami,

which supports opposition activists on the island, said he also

suspected that the human rights issue might be pushed to the back of the

EU-Cuba negotiations.



"If these conversations with the Cuban regime do not have democracy and

respect for human rights as a priority, it would be a disservice to the

people of Cuba and would threaten democracy in all of the hemisphere,"

Gutierrez said.



The "Common Position" says that the goal of EU relations with Cuba "is

to encourage a process of transition to a pluralist democracy and

respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as

sustainable recovery and improvement in the living standards of the

Cuban people."



The EU nevertheless has approved more than $40 million in assistance to

Cuba since 2008 for environmental projects and reconstruction following

hurricanes, and individual member states have no restrictions on their

relations with the island.



Source: Europe approves negotiations with Cuba - Americas -

MiamiHerald.com -

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/10/3926441/europe-approves-negotiations-with.html